The Gangsta Gardener of South Central L.A.

A Los Angeles-based fashion designer is starting an urban garden revolution in his neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles. Instead of vacant lots — the city owns miles and miles of these in LA county — Ron Finley wants to help residents to plant a million tomato plants.

He is co-founder of LA Green Grounds, a company that plants gardens at low-income homes as a part of a recovery system to transform neighborhoods.

Earlier this year he gave a TED talk on his progress as a “guerrilla gardener,” the dangers of food deserts, and the potential for his program to improve quality of life.

He said in the talk, “If kids grow kale, kids eat kale; if they grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes.”

According to Wikipedia, the program has had modest success in persuading city officials to cooperate, but remains officially illegal under city code.